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'Get her': Emotional 1st day as courtroom video shows violent, fatal assault of Amy Joyner-Francis in Wilmington high school bathroom

The family of Amy Joyner-Francis watched with tears in their eyes as a video was played in open court of their loved one’s brutal beating nearly a year ago inside a Howard High School of Technology bathroom.

“Those 48 seconds are why we’re here,” said prosecutor Philip Casale.

The video, captured on a cellphone, shows Trinity Carr, now 17, punching Joyner-Francis repeatedly, grabbing her by her braids, and dragging her to the ground and into a handicap stall. Other girls are heard screeching, “Get her.”

“Amy’s life was cut short because of a conscious decision to harm Amy,” said Casale. “They created a plan that consisted of locating and assaulting Amy Joyner-Francis.”

Carr faces criminally negligent homicide charges as a juvenile in Family Court. Chakeira Wright and Zion Snow face third-degree conspiracy charges, as juveniles, in connection with the fatal fight. All three are being tried at the same time in proceedings expected to last about two weeks.

“Amy was brutally beaten in a violent, premeditated onslaught,” said Casale in opening statements. "Amy was wholly unaware"

Casale said the "beef" between Carr and Joyner-Francis started at least the day before the attack on April 20, 2016, when, he said, a minor misunderstanding turned into a plan to assault Joyner-Francis.

On April 20, 2016, prosecutors said Joyner-Francis spoke in a group chat to friends, telling them to be careful: “Someone could switch up,” or go behind one's back. Prosecutors said Carr took exception to that comment—so the three met in the school’s bathroom—the same bathroom from which Joyner-Francis would not exit the next day.

Prosecutors said Snow posted a Snapchat video following the initial, non-violent bathroom meet-up that said: “She scared. She real scared. We gone catch her when we see her.”

Prosecutors alleged that Carr had come to school that fateful day prepared to fight—wearing sneakers and her hair up. One fellow classmate and friend of Joyner-Francis corroborated that claim in her testimony, saying Snow had posted a Snap of her sneakers.

“[Which means] you’re ready to fight,” testified Aniya Madison.

Madison broke out into tears on the witness stand as she rewatched the video of her friend's fatal assault--and saw herself trying to pull Joyner-Francis away from Carr.

Prosecutors said an unsuspecting Joyner-Francis wore sandals and her hair down.

The next morning, just after 8 a.m. on April 21, 2016, prosecutors said the trio went looking for Joyner-Francis and eventually met her in the bathroom, where the fight ensued. Prosecutors said they left the bathroom laughing and smiling because they had succeeded in their plan to “catch Amy.”

Prosecutors said Joyner-Francis, from the bathroom floor, struggling to breathe, told a friend “they snuck me” then lost consciousness. Joyner-Francis died later that morning.

“Trinity Carr made a regrettable decision of her young life—when she became involved in her first fight…with an unimaginable outcome.”

Deckers argued Joyner-Francis’s death was unforeseeable and the result of a “thought process of teens without thinking about the consequences.” He said peer pressure and loose talk on social media aggravated the situation.

He also said fights are common at Howard High School.

“A high school girls fight is an ugly thing to watch. It’s disheartening, not uncommon [but] demoralizing,” he said. “This was not a vicious, brutal... attack.”

“Yes it was,” interjected a family member of Joyner-Francis—not loud enough to interrupt proceedings.

Deckers said the school reported 31 fights and 13 offensive touching incidents involving students in the 2015-16 school year.

“Fights are more than a possibility--almost a weekly occurrence,” said Deckers.

Deckers said Carr thought the fight could potentially lead to detention, suspension or even expulsion—but never imagined death as a possible outcome.

“Amy’s death was outside the risk a person in Trinity’s position could assume,” Deckers said. “But for the grace of God, Trinity Carr could have been the child of any one of us.”

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Amy Cherry is the Assistant News Director and an investigative and general assignment reporter and anchor for WDEL. She joined WDEL's award-winning news team in 2010 from WBZ Newsradio 1030 in Boston and has received national accolades for reporting.

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